I look up, staring at her through red halos for eyes.
“What if I don’t believe in soulmates anymore?”
“Don’t do that! You can’t let him take that away from you.” She clucks her tongue. “God! I hope I end up at a flipping gala with Wardhole again and a whole bakery case. He’ll leave sterile if he doesn’t drown in pie-goo first.”
“Maggot might be upset if you murder him. I think they rub shoulders, don’t they?”
“Mag will shut up and post my bail. No woman deserves a man who values money over her.”
Right. Ward definitely did, even if the Winthrope deal was about dreams as much as it was dollar signs. Still, it should have been a wake-up call.
This was always a game, and I got played dirty.
I played with teal-blue fire, I flew too close to Orion, and I lost everything except these awful puns.
Shoot me.
26
Coming Clean (Ward)
Nick drives the rented Jeep through the Everglades, heading for Key Largo, blasting the most obnoxious heavy metal in the universe.
Yep. It’s a goddamned breakup song.
“I’m still confused about one thing, bro. Why would a girl who hates your guts want to help us?”
Good question. The material Paige sent from that security firm helped pinpoint the jackass here. He’s been hiding out in the condo Grandma left him as a parting gift after she hacked him out of her trust.
“I don’t know. Grandma’s sake, maybe,” I say.
“Are you sure she hates you? You could try talking to her like a human being.”
Grinding my teeth, I turn, dumbfounded he even asks.
“Doctor Phil, you were there the day things blew to shit. How is it a question? And as much as I’d love taking relationship advice from a guy who’s screwed his way through half a modeling catalog, it’s safe to say Paige hates me. Forever. She threatened to whack me with a protection order if I ever contacted her again.”
Nick flips the blinker on and turns the corner, biting back one of his insufferable smirks.
“It’s your life, Ward, but that sounds like a challenge to me.”
Is he for real?
“Is a rattlesnake shaking like a leaf a challenge too? Paige was only a tad more subtle,” I snap off.
He shrugs one shoulder. “If I wanted her, and that’s what she told me, I’d show up on her doorstep with a dumptruck of roses and a barbershop quartet.”
“So, she’d need that restraining order then?”
“You’re no fun,” he grumbles. “Any woman would be delighted.”
“She’d sic the cops on you,” I say, staring at the green line of marshy coast we’re darting down.
“Nah, see, she’d be impressed I risked a restraining order to beg for forgiveness. A good groveling session goes a long way. Let me tell you, I wouldn’t sleep at home that night.”
My eyes could cut him.
With an awkward smile, he holds up a hand. “This is all hypothetical, Ward. It’s not about Paige. Lighten up.”
“Why would I care if it’s about her?” I throw back. “I told you, it’s over, and after the shit I pulled...it should be.”
After a half hour silence, we’re closing in on a bank of newer beachfront condos that look like they were sprung from the sands.
He pulls into the lot, muttering under his breath. “Ward, you’re a dumbass.”
I’m not even sure I can argue with that one today, but I don’t have time to worry about it. I throw my seat belt off and open the door.
Nick starts to open his door when he stops and darts me a fierce look.
“Don’t start,” I bite off.
“What?”
“That look. You think I’m about to walk into trouble. I’m the oldest and the calmest—”
“That calm didn’t help you much with Paige, Buddha,” he says.
“Right. I’m also the most pissed off person in this car and getting madder by the minute, so if you don’t want me to take it out on you, let me deal with him. I’ve got this, Nick. Just wait here for backup.”
“You shouldn’t go in there alone, Ward. What if he’s—”
“He’s a wimp, a snake, and a pushover in that order. What’s he going to do?”
“Fucking mind games. You know that’s the worst. Or if he’s really desperate, who knows.”
“I’m immune to his crap and we’re both military men. Dad isn’t. I’d see him pull a gun before he knows he wants to.”
“You shouldn’t have to do this by yourself,” he says with a thick look.
“You’ll take care of Mom, remember? From me, she’d see it coming, but from my baby brother? No.”
His eyes sink to the wheel.
“I hate this shit.”
“Don’t we all. That’s why we’re splitting the work and taking our shots where they count,” I say, laying a hand on his shoulder. “This is my heart-to-heart talk with Dad, Nick. He took too much from me this time.”
Without his fuckery, I’d still have my girl, I think, blinking just a little too long.